Author
Topic: Jrnyfan's Custom plastic "Playsets" (Read 3252 times)

So I gave up hope long ago that Hasbro would ever give me the playsets I want. So, I'm trying my hand at crafting my own using a plastic called Instamorph. Smooth-on type stuff was way out of my budget. I have no real art background and I haven't sculpted anything since I was in 4th grade (I'm now 36).

I have a wall of shelving and my goal is to create playsets that would fit in my shelf space and would give my figures worlds to inhabit, just as the old Kenner playsets used to. I want them to be constructed entirely of plastic - no foam, clay, and ideally no paint. While I'm certainly going for the spirit of the film, I'm not trying to create a inch-by-inch recreation of the set and shooting exteriors. Instead, I'm trying to create something that would come close to a "toy" (though I'm lacking in action features for now). Aside from furnishings and accessories, these playsets are one piece.

Of course, the more I work with the material, the better I get at manipulating it. Collecting SW since I was 4 in 1980, I also like to integrate allusions back to the vintage Kenner line wherever possible.

I'm currently creating "rough drafts" of my projects and letting them sit for a while, giving me time to contemplate how I'd like to finish them out... so none of these are considered "done" yet.

This was my first project. Wampa cave on the left; raised snowbank for Probot on back. Snow field in middle for Taun Tauns. Cave entrance leads to a small Han/Leia spat hallway. Interior has a spot for the Bacta chamber and a control room (which I already want to massively revise - I hadn't managed to get very flat sheets of the material at this point). Lookout spot on top. Shaped to fit nicely on the right side against the Hasbro trench playset.

My second project - a plastic version of Hasbro's cardboard Cantina playset. Left side includes an opening door that permits the droids to "hide." The bar is made by Hasbro and I've yet to glue all the sections together (Currently they're just scotch taped). I plan to integrate a sound module to play the cantina theme - that will go over the main entrance on the right. The foor was a nightmare and needs some cleaning up (maybe some form of border at the front to make it look a little more level). The exterior of the building also plays double duty as a Mos Eisley street (a nod to the Sears Cantina playset). Haven't started adding any decoration really to the exterior yet.

A few of the chairs I've made using the bright orange of the vintage playset. The distillery didn't turn out all that great, so plan on replacing that eventually.

Wow! These are amazing works of art dude! I would totall buy any/all of these sets in the stores. I didn't have a chance to check out the video, but definitely want to see how you went about this. How long did they take you? How did you get the colors? That Ewok set in particular is awesome with the wood coloring and black rope ties. Cool stuff man - thanks for sharing!

Thanks! I would buy them, too --- if Hasbro would give me some playsets to buy! The Ewok village took about 12 hours total. Instamorph sticks to some things, but not to others -- so it's tricky trying to find things I can use for patterns or to cast shapes. The trees were shaped around a cardboard papertowel roll. The hut was cast out of a steel bowl in my kitchen. The roof i simply used pinestraw smushed into the Instamorph to create the texture. The floor was tricky. I taped together a bunch of tiny wood craft "logs" - then created an Instamorph mold from that, and then cast the floor parts from the mold. The floor is about 9 cast pieces cut out and then reapplied together (to stick Instamorph together all you have to do is reheat the edges - no glue required!

I color the plastic using pigment ink stamp pads. You can see how it's done on the Instamorph website.

Best part of this stuff --- if I decide I don't like it, I can melt it all down and start again (though the color stays in the plastic).

Now building the "base" around the Ewok Village for the rest of Endor.

Okay Dagobah is wrapped up for now! I'm pretty happy with how this one turned out. Interior features a stump table cast from the vintage playset. Vines on the right lead to Vader's cave. The two rocks are removable accessories and one fits on top of the other. The log on the ground is removable, as is Yoda's entire tree-hut.

Expanding the Endor / Ewok village. Also pictured are the removable accessories. The pile of logs can be rolled down the hill. The black is meant to be a "blasted" area - not sure if I like it, though. Standing alone it seems odd - but I needed to design it in this shape to fit well on the shelf it will be on. Will continue to evolve...